Posts with tag liz-danforth

From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame.

You'd think a gaming industry insider like Liz Danforth would be fairly blase about an interview -- but her reaction last week after part 1 of our conversation was anything but. "... For some reason, the idea of a post in WoW Insider made me unaccountably nervous and excited at once," she confessed on her blog. "WoW really has been a huge part of my life for some time, and yet Lisa was equally interested in all the related parts of the gamer me."

All of it, indeed! This week, we're back again with Liz to finish our conversation about all those related parts, starting with a new direction in the gaming industry veteran's life: writing.

Read Part 1: Gaming industry insider Liz Danforth

15 Minutes of Fame: So Liz, after years of being known primarily for your artwork or as a public libraries advocate for gaming, you're now diving head first into the writing pool.

Liz Danforth: I always thought I would be an accomplished writer sooner or later. In honor of Speak Out with Your Geek Out this week, I wrote at length about my long, awkward journey working toward that end. Writing has been a roller coaster for me. Suffice to say that by about 1999, I decided I was truly not a writer and never would be. It was an unhappy decision, but I thought I was simply facing the facts. I still tried to do some after that but, really, I gave up.

From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame.

For the crowdsourced site that it is, it's funny how Wikipedia's attempts at straight-laced objectivity so often nail the tenor of its subjects in an almost poetically understated fashion. Take this week's subject, Liz Danforth: "Elizabeth T. Danforth is a figure of note in the game industry. Although primarily recognized as an illustrator, she is an editor, writer, game scenario designer, and game developer." A figure of note? I'll say so. When I oh-so-casually mentioned who I was emailing back and forth with this week, the IMs from my husband (who's been playing pen-and-paper RPGs and card games since 1978) hit capslock mode: "WHO? Oh, HELL YEAH! Ask her if she can send the art for TUKNIR DEATHLOCK!"

Thus began my immersion into the world of Liz Danforth. Lest you think she comes strictly from an old-school perspective, Danforth's route today continues forward through computer gaming and forges ahead into new frontiers of MMO design. As our sister site Massively noted just last month, "Danforth is an industry pro whose resume stretches back to include classic PC games like Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Wasteland, and she said she was impressed enough with what Namaste was doing with Storybricks to allow herself to be called out of semi-retirement and back into action. Right now she's providing the team with concept and promotional art."

Interviewing Danforth is no small prospect. The lady is passionate about everything she's involved in, from gaming to her work as a professional librarian to ... well, we found ourselves chatting late one night this week about standing desks. Of course, the point here is to see how the World of Warcraft figures into the mix -- and on that, like everything else, this outspoken WoW veteran has plenty to say.